San Francisco Federal Building - Deal of the year
San Francisco Business Times
Written by J.K. Dineen
March 28, 2008
Ataxpayer-funded building housing federal bureaucrats is not the sort of investment you would think could pump new economic life into an entire urban neighborhood. But the new Federal Building at Seventh and Market is doing just that.
The $144 million, 600,000-square-foot futuristic building at 90 Seventh St., designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis and the local office of SmithGroup, has sparked a neighborhood renaissance.
The San Francisco Business Times has named the Federal Building the 2007 Deal of the Year for its significant investment in a gritty neighborhood and its design that marries sustainability and beauty.
The project has inspired developers and entrepreneurs to gamble that the increased foot-traffic and security from a major project will finally turn around the long-struggling Mid-Market area.
Next door, AGI Capital and TMG Partners have invested $185 million in the 260-unit SoMa Grand, which is 50 percent sold out. And up and down Sixth, Seventh and Eighth streets, amid the residential hotels and pawn shops, fresh new eateries have opened like Split Pea Seductions and Jersey Tomatoes, Custom Burger/Lounge and Bossa Nova, a Brazilian tapas spot and nightclub. The investment is reviving a sense of the neighborhood as a center of nightlife and entertainment.
Tony Jodeh, who owns Tony Baloney's cafe at 7th and Howard streets, said he has seen a 20 percent to 30 percent jump in business since the building opened up.
"This is more buzz and activity than we've seen in the Mid-Market since Frank Sinatra sang at the Warfield Theater," said NAI BT Commercial broker David Klein, who specializes in the neighborhood.
The decision to build the structure on the forlorn block was a conscious one, according to Maria Ciprazo, project executive and supervisory architect for the GSA. The government first looked at a site next to the Bank of America data center at Ninth and Market streets, but switched to Seventh and Mission because of wind issues at the other location. The 90 Seventh St. property was an old Greyhound bus parking lot.
"When we choose a site our goal is to invest the dollars we have into areas where we can be a catalyst for change," she said.
The property is also across the street from the federal court of appeals, which underwent a $100 million modernization in 1996. Given that investment it made sense to have another "marker" to signal the federal government's stake in the neighborhood and also further establish the corner as an entrance to the greater Civic Center neighborhood. The building currently houses 1,650 federal employees and could hold another 300 to 400 workers.
"The court had been seen as an isolated island," said Catherine Lee, division director and supervisor of civil engineer.
The GSA worked to make sure the building offered more than just offices by including a daycare center and a 500-seat conference and community center that is booked through September by local groups. Its three-story sky garden is open to the public. The design puts the private offices of managers at the center of the building, while 90 percent of the workers have views and windows that open and close.
Lee of the GSA predicted that the building will continue to drive investment.
"They were waiting for us to go through planning and once we were in the ground they could talk to their bankers to finance their condominium projects," said Catherine Lee, the GSA's regional property development officer.
One of the federal employees who has yet to move in is U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who wrote the legislation ensuring that San Francisco got the Federal Building.
"We can't wait for Nancy Pelosi to be in the neighborhood," said Jenny McNulty of Urban Solutions, which provides loans and assistance to small business in the area.
